What a week! Between Monday 30 September and Sunday 6 October 2024 I kicked off a new podcast series, started reviewing my photo archive, and had quite a few naps — but they weren’t as long as last week. I’m very happy with this start to 2024 Q4.
Podcasts
- The 9pm AI Just Doesn’t Work with David Gerard (#NotAllAI), recorded on Wednesday and posted on Saturday. You may well find the newsletter blog thing interesting, Pivot to AI.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #38. A plethora of stories ranging from shoddy AI and unethical practices with medical data to cables under the Pacific, digital driver licences, and cybercrime.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Photos
I’m decided to resume uploading my photos to Flickr so others can use them. Here’s what I’ve started with this week. Let’s see whether I can continue doing this weekly.
- Five photos of the greengrocer cicada (Cyclochila australasiae) as seen last week.
- Seven images of the skull of a common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largess
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Recommendations
It’s quite frightening when you see Elon Musk on stage with Donald Trump just 31 days out from the US elections, but here we are.
- Musk spoke at Donald Trump’s rally at the scene of that first assassination attempt. He calls himself “Dark MAGA”. Here’s Musk’s full speech.
- In case you missed it back in August, here’s the transcript of Musk’s rambling interview of Trump.
- Musk’s millions in rightwing gifts began earlier than previously known – report, writes the Guardian. “X owner has spent tens of millions to fund conservative causes including anti-immigrant and anti-transgender ads.”
- From The New York Times on 27 September: 5 Days With Elon Musk on X: Deepfakes, Falsehoods and Lots of Memes (gift link). “Almost a third of 171 posts last week from the X owner were false, misleading or missing vital context.”
- The Federal Court of Australia has upheld the eSafety Commissioner’s fine of $610,500 for failing to cooperate with a regulator’s request for information about anti-child-abuse practices, per this 210-paragraph judgment. Stay tuned to see whether X Corp appeals.
- A Poetry Critic Looks at Elon Musk’s Awful Poem.
In other news:
- With the news that Britain’s last coal-fired power station closed this week, it’s worth revisiting Asianometry’s video from last year, Why British Nuclear Energy Failed.
- A great initial explainer, this, from ABC News Verify’s Kevin Nguyen: Digital forensics expert breaks down how to spot AI-generated “people”.
- New Ze Frank video! True Facts: How Jellyfish Hunt.
- From “friend of the pod” Dr Trent Yarwood, Why digital health will never save the world. The same point probably applies to whatever field you work in.
- In this week’s AlienSideBoob, John Birmingham gets nostalgic, but in a clear-eyed way. Will it matter when the last newspaper dies?
- And from Patrick Boyle, who is worth following, Crypto Has Bought The 2024 Election!. It’s not his funniest video, but it’s very informative.
Poetic Interlude
Following a suggestion on Bluesky, I asked Google’s NotebookLM artificial intelligence “research assistant” to summarise that Federal Court judgment against X in the form of a limerick of no more than three stanzas. So here we go.
There once was a company called X,
Whose merger made eSafety perplexed.
Did liability,
Transfer readily,
Or had Twitter Inc. truly been wrecked?
Nevada law was the key
To solve this corporate decree.
Did “liabilities” mean
All obligations seen,
Or just debts, financially?
The Court found, in a decisive feat,
X Corp couldn’t simply retreat.
They inherited all
From Twitter’s grand fall,
And faced penalties, far from petite.
Is this a correct summary? I haven’t the faintest idea.
The Week Ahead
Monday is the public holiday for Labour Day, at least here in NSW, but I’ll be trying to achieve something productive just the same. It’ll be a mix of client work and small errands.
On Wednesday I’m recording another special-guest episode in The 9pm Edict spring series with Erin Cook, a journalist covering South-East Asian politics and editor of the newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut. (Don’t worry, it’s in English.) We’ll be talking Indonesian and Thai politics — always fun — and whatever else comes up.
If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 9pm AEDT this Tuesday 8 October. The finished episode will be posted on Thursday night.
On Thursday evening I’ll also try to catch the Lowy Institute panel discussion Will China gain uncontested primacy in Asia?, or maybe watch it later on YouTube. This is the second of two panels on this year’s Asia Power Index. The first was great, and this one features the redoubtable Hugh White, so I’m really looking forward to it.
On Saturday I’ll be packing and heading down to Sydney because…
On Sunday the Queensland expedition begins. We’re flying to Cairns in the morning and I’ll be visiting the Australian Armour & Artillery Museum in the afternoon. [Update 13 October 2024: Nah, I was too tired.] And then there will be drinks. [Update 8 October 2024: I’ve slightly updated this paragraph to reflect the evolving reality.]
“We”? Yes, as some of you will know from the socials, I’m travelling with my good friend Snarky Platypus.
Further Ahead
- UPDATED: Queensland expedition continues, 14–21 October 2024. Monday 14: Great Barrier Reef tour. [Update 10 October 2024: We’re had to book a different reef trip because of a cancellation.] Tuesday 15: Kuranda Scenic Railway wildlife experience. Wednesday 16 and overnight: Spirit of Queensland train to Brisbane. Thu 17: Brisbane pub night, open to all, Netherworld, Fortitude Valley, from 5.30pm AEST. Sunday 20: Train to Gold Coast and explore there a bit. Monday 21: Relaxing morning then fly back to Sydney in the afternoon.
- Competition in cyberspace and the future of US security leadership, US Studies Centre, Sydney, 25 October 2024 (TBC). It’s a conversation with Admiral (ret) Mike Rogers, the former director of the US National Security Agency and former commander of US Cyber Command. I might actually head down to Sydney for this one rather than waiting for the video.
- Sydney Days, 26 October to 18 November 2024 (TBC). The dates have yet to be finalised, but I have another opportunity to base myself in Sydney for a while. Other than that it’s business as usual.
- Australian Internet Governance Forum (auIGF) 2024, formerly known as NetThing, Melbourne and online, 28–29 October 2024 (TBC).
- Victoria expedition, 6–9 December 2024. Includes a friend’s birthday event on the Mornington Peninsula Friday 6 to Sunday 8, heading to Melbourne for social things on Sunday night before flying back to Sydney on Monday evening. This trip will almost burn off the last of my frequent flyer points from the Beforetimes, when I used to do a lot more travelling.
[Photo: A moth, probably of the genus Anthelus, photographed at Bungaree Cottages on 7 October 2020. There are way too many species for a proper ID, at least from me.]